Hey guys.

So I rear ended someone and totaled my prelude. Frame bent, airbags deployed and all. Seems to be a write off :( I know it's sad. I will be posting pics later. Anyways I was thinking of what to do and I did have quite a clean lude. The engine only had about 96 000 miles and I had just put in a new clutch a few months ago. Because of this I decided I want to swap in my engine and tranny into another lude so I've been looking for a clean body prelude in bad mechanical shape so I can buy it for cheap.

So I found a prelude with a pretty clean body. Problem is is it already has an engine swapped into it. The engine is in pretty bad shape which is why he's selling it for a good price. This might be a newb question but I was just wondering. Is it bad to swap an engine into a car more than once? As in will the 2nd swap have any less chance of not adapting as well and driving as well as the 1st swap? My friend used the screw in a wall analogy lol saying the more you put a screw into the same hole in the wall the less likely it'll fit like the one before. Anyway just thought I'd seek some advice from my fellow luders before I buy the car.

By the way I will probably be posting up my old car as a parts car later on after I figure out this whole engine swap situation and I get a driveable lude again.

Thanks guys!

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1998 Honda Prelude Base - SOLD
2001 Honda Prelude SE - Crashed then sold :(
1997 Honda Prelude Base - Project car

Your friend wouldn't make much of a mechanic.

The only complication with engine swaps is what changes were made to accommodate the last one. If it's a like for like swap -- the engine and tranny originally intended for the car, or at least the same as what resided there previously, so there's no need to splice in different wiring harness, change ECUs, re-engineer engine mounts and all the various ancillary connections to the engine -- then it doesn't matter how many times the engine's been changed. It gets more involved when you're swapping in something different than what's there now, especially if the last guy did some custom-bodged, duct tape and chewing gum modifications that you have to undo before getting on with your swap.

So...what's in there now, and what do you propose to replace it with?

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Jamie
'92 Prelude Si, '01 Miata, '63 Suburban
Occasional mechanic on Alpina B10 3.5 #92
36 years continuous years with Preludes
Speed Demon Racing
Jamie on LinkedIn

I see makes sense.

I believe he has another H22 swapped in but I'll call him after work to double check. He claims a shop has done it and has receipts although I haven't went to see it yet Which is why I don't know forsure and he sent me pics of everything but the engine bay.

i'll be swapping my stock H22 and stock transmission.

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1998 Honda Prelude Base - SOLD
2001 Honda Prelude SE - Crashed then sold :(
1997 Honda Prelude Base - Project car

Think of a Christmas tree. You buy new tree with no lights.
You put lights you already had on it. Everythings cool.
Tree lights up real nice.
Uh oh, lights all burning up. You remove lights and put on new ones.
Tree lights up real nice.
Uh oh, more lights blow and burn up. You remove lights and put on new ones.
Tree lights up real nice..
Uh oh,.....
You see what I'm getting at?
It's like Jamie said, if it's done correctly you can swap many many times

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God's Not Dead

Only problem is is I'll be paying someone to do my swap. I always do my own work on my lude but this is just too big of a job for me in terms of skill and time. How would I know the previous owner swapped right if I'm not doing the swap myself.

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1998 Honda Prelude Base - SOLD
2001 Honda Prelude SE - Crashed then sold :(
1997 Honda Prelude Base - Project car

You won't. But that don't matter so long as they didn't strip bolts, hack up wire harnesses and that sort of stuff.

My son bought a shell with a botched rebuild. Poor op paid $3500 to rebuild it due to a blown head gasket. He got it back smoking and with a huge idle bounce. The hacks tried to get him for another rebuild using oversized piston rings on regular pistons... my son got it for under a grand.
We plucked the busted engine out and tossed in a new one without a lot of issues beyond a broken wire connector here n there. Point being if you pick a good shop they'll do you right.
The key is lots of new stuff like t-belt/water pump, new belts n hoses, new gaskets for cam gears, distributor etc, oil cooler, knock sensor etc. Replace all that stuff while the engine hangs from a chain and not all stuffed into an engine bay.

I paid a guy one time to swap a motor who replaced everything I bought before planting the engine. Regretfully I did not buy new hoses and on day one of having the car home a hose busted..a pitb to get to hose...

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God's Not Dead

You need to determine what H22 was swapped in. If it's a JDM engine, they probably had to change the wiring harness, and if you're swapping your U.S. H22A4 over, whoever does the work will have to change it back. Not a show-stopper, especially if it was a professional job to begin with -- more likely they changed the whole harness rather than hacking up the old one, so whoever does the work for you can remove the old work cleanly and swap all your parts over. But ask, and talk to the guys you'll have doing your work, so you understand what they're doing.

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Jamie
'92 Prelude Si, '01 Miata, '63 Suburban
Occasional mechanic on Alpina B10 3.5 #92
36 years continuous years with Preludes
Speed Demon Racing
Jamie on LinkedIn

Okay I see thank you for the advice. What if the engine was rebuilt? Same process as a swap basically if it was a USDM engine he swapped in? Or is it better than a swap in this situation of me wanting to swap my own. Do you still have to mess with the wiring harnesses and all that stuff? Sorry for the newb questions.

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1998 Honda Prelude Base - SOLD
2001 Honda Prelude SE - Crashed then sold :(
1997 Honda Prelude Base - Project car

Best to find out which motor you'll be getting, then stating it here. At that point folks can give more specific answers to your question(s).

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God's Not Dead

So I did find one prelude. Body is in great condition, motors been rebuilt but seems to be in bad shape from what the guy made it sound like. Haven't went to see it yet because it is out of town. It is the stock motor so the H22A4 and it has been rebuilt although I'm unsure what has been done exactly. He says when the rebuild happened the wiring harness was replaced so it's brand new, and he bought it from another province (I live in Canada) and an out of province inspection had to be done for him to register here in this province. Those inspections are b*tch to pass and he said other than new wheel bearing he replaced the car completely passed so that's good sign. He says now the shifter linkage cable is broken, I'm not too sure what that is, and the engine is in bad shape which is why he's letting it go for a good price.

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1998 Honda Prelude Base - SOLD
2001 Honda Prelude SE - Crashed then sold :(
1997 Honda Prelude Base - Project car

Worth purchasing to swap an engine into assuming the body is clean?

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1998 Honda Prelude Base - SOLD
2001 Honda Prelude SE - Crashed then sold :(
1997 Honda Prelude Base - Project car

Or is this fact that it's a rebuild and the engine bay has been toyed around with something I should stay away from?

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1998 Honda Prelude Base - SOLD
2001 Honda Prelude SE - Crashed then sold :(
1997 Honda Prelude Base - Project car

Bump!!

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1998 Honda Prelude Base - SOLD
2001 Honda Prelude SE - Crashed then sold :(
1997 Honda Prelude Base - Project car

Dude,
You are making this waaaaay too complicated.

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God's Not Dead

How so?

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1998 Honda Prelude Base - SOLD
2001 Honda Prelude SE - Crashed then sold :(
1997 Honda Prelude Base - Project car

You should take a person you can count on to go see the perspective car. Then many of your questions will be answered.

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God's Not Dead